Chargers to land in Cards' nest?

PHOENIX -- With an estimated 10,000 people taking shelter at
Qualcomm Stadium because of the wildfires ravaging San Diego
County, it appears likely the Chargers will play their scheduled
home game Sunday against the Houston Texans in the Phoenix area,
although no official decision has been announced.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who has been talking with
Chargers president Dean Spanos about moving the game, told
reporters at the NFL meetings in Philadelphia the options include
playing the game in Los Angeles, at Arizona State's Sun Devil
Stadium, at Texas Stadium in Dallas or Reliant Stadium, the Texans'
home field. A decision was expected to be announced today.

A Monday night game at the Arizona Cardinals' two-year-old
stadium in Glendale, Ariz., a west-Phoenix suburb, is the most
likely scenario, given that the Chargers were expected to arrive in
Phoenix on Tuesday night and plan to use the Cardinals' practice
facilities in Tempe on Wednesday through Friday. The Cardinals are
in their off week and do not have a game this weekend.

"We are being evaluated for Monday night, but not for Sunday due
to a consumer show (the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show)
under contract through Sunday," said Ted Ferris, President/CEO of
the Arizona Sports & Tourism Authority, in an e-mail.

In 2003, wildfires forced the Chargers to move a Monday night
game against the Miami Dolphins to the Phoenix area on less than
48-hours notice. That game, a 26-10 Dolphins victory, was played at
Sun Devil Stadium and fans, thousands of them college students,
were allowed in for free. This weekend, Arizona State University
hosts Cal in a 7 p.m. homecoming game Saturday. The stadium,
presumably, could be ready for an NFL game the next day.

But, as of late Tuesday afternoon, ASU officials said they had
not been contacted about potentially hosting the game.

"There has been no contact between the NFL and ASU," Doug
Tammaro, a media relations director at ASU, said via e-mail to the
East Valley Tribune. Another spokesperson in the media relations
department said the only discussions about potentially hosting the
game she was aware of had been with members of the media.

The site, day and time of their game didn't seem to matter much
to the Chargers.

"We need to get ready to play football," said general manager
A.J. Smith, who evacuated his home and doesn't know if it's still
standing, in an Associated Press story. "Our attitude is, we're
going to practice for three days, and give us a buzz and let us
know where we're going."

After taking Monday off, the Chargers lined up at their
headquarters to board buses to the airport early Tuesday evening as
they made their way to Phoenix, and it seemed doubtful they would
be back in San Diego by the weekend.

Qualcomm Stadium general manager Erik Stover told the Associated
Press the building can be ready to host an NFL game by Sunday, but
it all depends on when the fires are contained.

"The longer it goes, the less likely," Stover said. "We're an
evacuation site until we're no longer needed."

More than 40 members of the Chargers organization, including
quarterback Philip Rivers, superstar running back LaDainian
Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates, were among the thousands who
were forced to evacuate their homes.

"It's a little weird," Tomlinson told the Associated Press. "It
wasn't expected. Two times in my career. You're just thankful you
haven't lost a house. This is the closest I've come to losing one,
though. It was burning on my property line."

Tomlinson and his wife had to flee their Poway home early
Monday.

"I could see the fires coming," said Tomlinson, the reigning NFL
MVP. "You wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning. You get the phone
call, 'You need to evacuate.' I see the sky was orange, so I'm
like, 'It's serious.'

"You just adapt to it and deal with it. Everybody is. Look at
all those people over there at the stadium."

The Chargers issued a statement Tuesday evening that set the
stage for the game to be moved away from Qualcomm. The statement
said protecting the public safety is San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders'
top goal, and "the Chargers will continue to cooperate with the
Mayor to achieve this goal."

Although unlikely, the NFL has forced the"home team" to play in
the opposition's stadium. Two years ago, the New York Giants-New
Orleans Saints game was moved from the Superdome to Giants Stadium
because of Hurricane Katrina.

Even Texans owner Bob McNair doubted that much-maligned move
would be repeated.

"We'd love to have the Chargers play at Reliant Stadium," McNair
said in a Houston Chronicle story. "I think we could sell out in
three days, but from a competitive standpoint, I'm not sure the
Chargers would want to do that. We're just waiting to see."

After a 1-3 start to the season, the Chargers defeated the
Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders in succession and are coming off
their bye week.